Background
Henry Coffin was born on January 5, 1877, in New York, where he spent his early years. Coffin was the son of Edmund, a legal advisor, and Euphemia Coffin.
1926
Henry Coffin on the cover of Time magazine
Henry Coffin
New Haven, CT 06520, United States
Henry Coffin studied at Yale University. He got a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts.
New College, Mound Pl, Edinburgh EH1 2LX, United Kingdom
Henry Coffin studied at New College.
Biegenstraße 10, 35037 Marburg, Germany
Henry Coffin studied at the Philipps University of Marburg.
3041 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
Henry Coffin studied at Union Theological Seminary. He got a Bachelor of Divinity.
3041 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
Henry Coffin (at the head of the table) at the students' lunch at Union Theological Seminary.
Herbert Clark Hoover
Henry Coffin was born on January 5, 1877, in New York, where he spent his early years. Coffin was the son of Edmund, a legal advisor, and Euphemia Coffin.
Henry Coffin attended Yale University, where he got a Bachelor of Arts in 1897 and a Master of Arts in 1900. After graduation from Yale, he studied at New College in Edinburgh in 1897-1899 and the Philipps University of Marburg in 1899. In 1900 Coffin earned a Bachelor of Divinity at the Union Theological Seminary.
Henry Coffin was ordained in the Presbyterian Church United States in 1900, began his ministry at the Bedford Park Church in the Bronx, and remained there in 1900-1905. Then, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church called him to their pastorate in 1905 until 1926.
In 1904 Henry Coffin started his teaching career at the Union Theological Seminary as a teacher of practical theology. Then, in 1926 he became president of the Seminary and served until his retirement in 1945. Referred to as "Uncle Henry," a popular nickname attached to him by students, Coffin was an active leader in all aspects of seminary life, and in the broader Christian leadership. During his time as president, Henry Coffin was responsible for hiring both Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich. He deftly navigated Union Theological Seminary through the financial woes of the depression era.
Between 1945 and 1954, Henry Coffin also lectured and was a public speaker. He was the Young Men's Christian Association speaker in the United States and France during World War I. Besides, he served as a fellow of the Corporation of Yale University in 1922-1945, and the president of the Board of Trustees of Roberts College in Constantinople, Turkey. Coffin lectured at the New College in Edinburgh in 1926, at the Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, Yale University, and Auburn Seminary. He also was an abroad Joseph Cook Lecturer in 1946-1947. Coffin was elected Moderator by the 155th Presbyterian General Assembly in 1943 of the Presbyterian Church in the United States.
Also, Henry Coffin was a writer. Among his more than twenty writings, his book, Meaning of the Cross, is considered an excellent guide to Christian theology.
(The book was published after Henry Coffin's death in 1954.)
1956Henry Coffin was a strong advocate of United States involvement in World War II. With Herbert Hoover, he worked to send provisions to the United Kingdom before the United States declaration of war in 1941. Besides, Coffin was arrested as a Freedom Rider early in the 1960s and was an early admirer of Martin Luther King Jr.
An ordained Presbyterian minister, Henry Coffin embraced a philosophy that put social activism at the heart of his clerical duties. Preaching throughout the United States, he emphasized the application of Christianity to social problems. Coffin also sought to improve the quality of theological education.
Quotations: "God is to me that creative force, behind and in the universe, who manifests Himself as energy, as life, as order, as beauty, as though, as conscience, as love."
Henry Coffin married Dorothy Prentice Eells on September 6, 1906. They had two children, Ruth and David Coffin.